Thiruvananthapuram's hilly terrains live in fear

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Very similar to the lives of the people on the coast who live with uncertainty due to coastal erosion, the fear of landslide rules supreme in the hilly terrains of Thiruvananthapuram city. Of those living on the edge, are around 50 families who reside on the foothills of Chithippara hillock at Malayadi ward of Tholikodu panchayat near Nedumangaud.

The hills have been periodically caving in and destroying crops. Worse, since the past two monsoons, massive boulders precariously lean over the houses that are mostly inhabited by members of the scheduled tribe.

“During the last landslide that occured last monsoon, six families were given asylum in Malayadi open hall. Some families could not be evacuated then due to space crunch. However, today the hall does not have a roof. Last month, boulders have again started perching precariously but now there is no place to set up a relief camp,” said G Jayakumar, member of Malayadi ward. Recently, based on the report of the mining and Geology department, the district administration decided to seek the help of the army to do controlled blasting on the site.